This is an invaluable introduction for all students and researchers of management confronting a new research project.
Understanding Management Research provides an overview of the principal epistemological debates in social science and how these lead to and are expressed in different ways of conceiving and undertaking organizational research. For researchers and students who are increasingly expected to adopt a reflexive understanding of their own epistemological position, the authors present a concise, accessible guide to the different perspectives available and their implications for research output.
All students undertaking empirical research for theses and dissertations will find this book helps them comprehend the key ongoing debates and engage with their own pre-understandings when trying to make sense of management and organizations.

Introduction

The Importance of Epistemology in Management Research

Positivist Epistemology

The Search for Foundations?

Positivism

The Management Mainstream?

Conventionalist Epistemology

The Socialization of Science?

Postmodernist Epistemology

Relativism Unleashed

Critical Theory and Management

The Return to Rationalism and the Promise of Progress

Pragmatism and Critical Realism

Transcending Descartes' Either/Or?

Conclusions

A More Reflexive Approach towards Management Research

'These sections represent the clearest rendition yet of these subjects, with difficult concepts introduced in a digestible form for the neophytic (or not so neophytic) researcher. Whilst in a book this size not every argument can be presented, there is ample extra material to be found to encourage further engagement… At the end of each chapter, there is a very useful Further Reading section provided by the authors, which gives useful guidelines. I believe to be an extremely useful text, which addresses what has until now been a significant gap in the market. This book will be my first choice in the future for introducing doctoral students of management-related subject to the philosophical underpinning they require for their studies. There is no other text which covers this area so clearly, so succinctly and in language that is readily accessible to a wide range of researcher back-grounds. I can enviSAGE this being a valuable source book to which researchers return again and again in order to deepen their understanding as research projects progress; it certainly provoked some new questions for me. To conclude, an excellent buy' - International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation

A good balance between to the point, but give enough detail to promote understanding

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Phil Johnson

In recent years Phil has participated in the generation and management of over £420, 000 of research funding, over £330,000 of which was provided by EPSRC and ESRC. Involved in much of this research have been local public and private sector organizations as sponsors of research and as research sites for both data collection and for change-management interventions. This research has concerned a range of issues including: management control; corporate governance; contractor-client relations; evolving management roles. Recently Phil has engaged in ESRC sponsored research into "Benchmarking Good Practice in Qualitative Management Research"... More About Author

Joanne Duberley

Jo is a Reader in Organization Studies. She has previously worked at Heriot Watt University, Sheffield University, Leeds University and Sheffield Hallam University. Jo has taught OB, HRM and change management to postgraduate and undergraduate students. She has supervised 6 PhDs to completion and is currently supervising 2 PhD students. More About Author

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